New paperwork filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has revealed financial service provider Fidelity Investments’ plans to launch a Bitcoin fund.
Not many details about the fund—called Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund—are available at the moment; however, what is known is that Fidelity head of strategy and planning Peter Jubber is the CEO and director of the Bitcoin fund, the minimum investment that can be made is $100,000, and no investor has invested yet.
Why a Bitcoin Fund?
Fidelity’s decision to launch a Bitcoin fund is inspired by the ever-increasing demand for digital currencies from investors. From November 2019 to March 2020, the Fidelity Digital Asset team surveyed 800 financial advisors, family offices, pensions, digital currency and traditional hedge funds, high net worth investors, endowments, and foundations across the United States and Europe.
Of the 800 surveyed, 36% said they are currently invested in digital assets, while 60% of institutional investors said that digital assets have a place in their portfolio. The results from the Fidelity survey most likely inspired them to offer the exposure to digital assets that investors increasingly desire. Because regardless of whether it is Fidelity providing the service or not, investors are interested in allocating a percentage of their wealth to digital currencies and will find a way to get exposure to digital currencies whether it is through Fidelity or not.
Barriers to adoption
The Fidelity survey also asked investors what was stopping them from investing in digital assets.
“Despite the upward trending number of institutions adopting digital assets, some reticence remains,” according to the survey. “Among the obstacles to digital asset adoption cited were price volatility (53%), concerns around market manipulation (47%), and lack of fundamentals to gauge appropriate value (45%). Encouragingly, among U.S. respondents, the strength of concerns decreased notably vs. last year across most factors. Price volatility concern fell 13 points, concerns around market manipulation fell 6 points and lack of fundamentals fell 8 points.”
Investors still have their reservations about digital currency; however, year-over-year, more investors have become comfortable with the idea of having digital assets in their portfolio.
Ultimately, it is a positive for the blockchain and digital currency ecosystem to see Fidelity, a major player in the world of traditional finance, launching a digital currency product. It would not be surprising to see more legacy institutions follow suit.
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